Chao, Gwenyth

This writing is a window into my mind and the meandering thoughts behind a series of sculptural experiments and installations I have made from compostable materials. The work explores the porosity of bodies as entities and the symbiosis that becomes possible with permeability. Thinking through a critical discourse of ecologies, I (re)imagine and “propose near futures, possible futures, and implausible but real nows” through a materially emergent and ecological, situated practice (Haraway 2016, 136). I work with the embedded ideas by moving between 3 different lenses. I begin with Introweaving, my research as a network of pathways that a worm might meander through in a compost pile, opening the various spaces and materials that I use throughout my experiments. Bodies as microworlds probes notions of the body and its porous boundaries; ingesting and regurgitating become critical and generative metaphors for processing ingestible biomaterials made from food refuse. In/Between embraces the active process of borrowing and mutating processes and methodologies from distinct spaces and bodies of knowledge. (Un)Becoming zooms outwards to the cyclical aspects of life and time – exploring animacy, decay and regeneration as expressive processes. Complementing the initial Introweaving is a final section Interleaving, where I pause and gesture towards future experiments. I view this project and thinking as a become-with (ref. symbiosis/ the more-than-human/ land) is an ongoing process. These ideas are need to continuously percolating… my writing and my project are eternally compos(t)ing…

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis. Mixed media installation of a lab-kitchen-studio research & making space.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis. Mixed media installation of a lab-kitchen-studio research & making space.

In support of Gwenyth Chao's MFA thesis. Mixed media installation of a lab-kitchen-studio research & making space.

Responding to Climate Change Through Art and Design includes work that envisions an eco-utopia, expresses concern about the environment or documents climate change through creative practice. Drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures, multimedia works and installations by members of the ECU community including students, alumni, staff and faculty, explore the impact of climate change and highlight the urgent need for action. The effects of climate change are already being felt locally and around the world, with wildfire smoke, flooding, loss of biodiversity and the displacement of human and non-human populations. Through this exhibition, we showcase a variety of ways artists and designers are responding to the climate crisis. We hope to amplify direct action and movements that address climate change, from hosting community events, engaging with non-human life, protesting, mapping, using sustainable materials, and more. The exhibition was curated by Ana Diab, Michael Pollard, Kristy Waller and Hillary Webb, and includes work by Amory Abbott, Maru Aponte, Emilia Belliveu-Thompson, Andrea Bollen, Giulia Borba, Gwenyth Chao, Ella Emsheimer, Lori Goldberg, Danya Gorodetsky, Erick Jantzen, Vjeko Sager, Jade Sawotin, Emma Somers and Bobbi Kozinuk, Ayako Takagi, and Rita Wong. Ultimately, we hope that this exhibition will inspire visitors to take action to address climate change, and to join the growing movement for a more sustainable and equitable future.